Guest Editorial Chris Webb
2012 SME Education Foundation Family Scholarship Winner
smeSpeaks Real-Life Experiences Shape First Year M
y first year of college at the University of Arkansas was amazing! Whenever I see my family or high school friends, they always ask how college is going. After a lot of thought, I finally figured out my perfect response. “Attending the University of Arkansas has been the best deci- sion I have ever made.” It’s simple and precise. My first few weeks were the most difficult. Coming to col- lege was a huge change in my life. As an only child, it was overwhelming starting out in a dorm environment. My dorm isn’t the largest on campus, but it was still a different feeling knowing that there are more than 100 people living with me. Walking down the hallways, there were always people talking and hanging out at all hours of the day and night. During my second week, I was still in the process of trying to find more friends, so I mentioned to my roommate something I saw online — “hallway putt-putt.” That afternoon, we went to a lo- cal Goodwill and bought some golf balls and a few putters. We taped a few red plastic cups to the ground and started put- ting. Our cheering, as a ball went into the cup, brought people out of their rooms and putting themselves. That day was the first time I finally felt comfortable in college. I came to college with a social and educational plan. I knew it was going to be different than high school. While in high school, I went to school, worked every day and then went to robotics. I barely had a social life outside the people I saw in class, work and robotics. I rarely had homework, and the lit- tle homework I did have, would be completed as soon as I got to class. My new college plan involved being more social, but also still having time to study. This first semester plan worked fine. However, second semester I knew I had to fix a few parts of the plan. I needed to involve more study time away from distractions, such as friends and electronics. So far, this edited plan has worked very well during my second semester.
Going to class was never a problem. There were a couple of classes that I didn’t enjoy; the rest were just fine. Because freshman year is just the basics, almost everyone is in the university core classes. During orientation, I was informed that “Chemistry for Engineers” would be an easy, beginner- level chemistry class. They were wrong. If any class was going to be my undoing, it was going to be that class. Fortu- nately, in the end, I passed. I was relieved when I saw that I only had to take one chemistry class to graduate and that I was done with it.
My favorite classes have been my freshman engineering program classes. These classes are supposed to help stu- dents figure out what type of engineer they want to become. My first semester topic was robotics. In this class, we learned how to program Lego robots, and how to think of different ways to complete a project with these robots. Because I am a FIRST Robotics alumnus, my teacher immediately liked me. After the first class, I spent 20 minutes talking about the FIRST program. I learned she was in charge of judging the FIRST Lego League Competition at a local high school. She invited me to be a judge for the competition. My second semester was a structures class with the same teacher. In this class, we built and designed balsa wood towers. We also worked on resume and interview skills. During the second semester, we were finally allowed to make decisions on our majors. I have subsequently decided that I want to become an industrial engineer.
Since coming to the University of Arkansas, I have par- ticipated in activities to help me become a better person. I have done things that I never thought of doing in the past. I became a founding father of the Beta Theta Pi colony here at the University of Arkansas. I am on the Brotherhood Events Committee, where I help create brotherhood bonding experi-
July 2013 |
ManufacturingEngineeringMedia.com 15
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108